Have you been seriously pondering over the following question? Many pianists avoid this question, perhaps because of sociopolitical sensitivity (instead of musical sensitivity)?

Take for example the entire China with a population of 1.3 billion. Most would agree that the most celebrated (classical) pianists are Lang Lang and Li Yundi.

So my question is: Are there other pianists (non-celebrities) in China whose piano playing is on par with theirs? If the answer is yes (e.g. if you say at least thousands of them), then why aren't they famous? In other words, does it mean that only when you reach this level of piano playing superiority will you definitely be "discovered" and made eminent?

Note that I'm confining my topic to pure playing-by-score instead of playing-by-ear or improvisations, since that would have opened a bigger can of worms.

For those who feel that within China, very few pianists would match or beat the level manifested by Lang Lang or Li Yundi, then my next question for you will then be: What is it that they can do (or do well) which other pianists in China can't? Is it the speed or tempo of playing? Or is it their sheer playing techniques? Or is it their interpretations?

I would like to hear your viewpoints before I elaborate on this further.

#performing